Wuyizidi wrote:If we just translate he (合), the most common single character/word association meaning is 'harmony'.
No. 合 hé means combine, unite, join or gather. Harmony is not a meaning of this character.
和 hé is the character for harmony
and 和谐 héxié is the most common chinese word for harmony.
People confuse these words. Even chinese people can make mistakes if they only hear the words without knowing what character they mean.
Six harmony certainly sounds very Asian, very traditional.
Sounds Asian? ??
Again, Harmony has absolutely nothing to do with "liu
he". In English commentaries on Chinese literature, the most common translation is “six conformations”. The meaning of Liuhe in classical Chinese literature varies though:
In the Suwen 5 (The Great Treatise on the Responsive Manifestations of Yin and Yang 陰陽應象大論) The Liu Hé refers to the channels in the body with the six foot and hand pairs. As a chinese comment to the book explains:
"足太陽與足少陰為一合。足少陽與足厥陰為二合。足陽明與足太陰為三合。手太陽與手少陰為四合。手少陽與手厥陰為五合。手陽明與手太陰為六合 (Foot taiyang and foot shaoyin form the first coordinate; foot shaoyang and foot jueyin form the second coordinate; foot yangming and foot taiyin form the third coordinate. Hand taiyang and hand shaoyin form the fourth coordinate; hand shaoyang and hand jueyin form the fifth coordinate; hand yangming and hand taiyin form the sixth coordinate)"
In most classical Chinese litterature, "liuhe" means "the six coordinates" and refers to the six directions = north, south, east, west, and up and down. Liuhe can be used as the 10,000 things, or everything under heaven. "Within the liuhe" means the existence of all things.
From the Zhuangzi: “六合之外,聖人存而不論;六合之内,聖人論而不議。。。Outside the Six Coordinates, the sage is present yet does not discuss. Within the Six Coordinates, the sage discusses but does not dispute.”
Another common association in Xingyi is kai he (开合) - opening and closing. But Liu He (六合) is a common terminology within Chinese martial art in general, for example Liu He Spear. Here all we need to figure out the missing character is looking at the idea of Liu He itself: it's all about every component of the mind and body working together as one unit. So the missing character is pei 配.
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"Liuhe spear" means to wield the spear in the six directions. There are many names withe the Liuhe: The Liuhe pagoda, Liuhe bridge etc. Most of those names refers to the six directions.
Liuhebafa means that there are eight methods that can be used in any of the six directions. Or it can have a neidan connotation: "8 methods for the 6 channel coordinates"
"
He" in Kaihe does not mean close. It means connect. "Close" as closing a door is not a meaning chinese people think of when they hear "hé". "
He shou" means connecting the hands, not close them. "
Kai" means to open up the body so the qi can flow. "
He" means connecting the structure so that you can circulate the qi through the limbs. "Open the flow and connecting it" This is why we have the term "Heqi" (Aiki) First Kaiqi, the Heqi. So "harmony" has nothing to do with the term Aiki. It means a physical structure that let the qi flow.
Before "
Kai" (open) became popular, another word was used, "zhan" or "stretch". The opening of the body is internal stretching.